Tottenham battled back to a 2-2 draw with Brighton on a day that displaye more completeness on the ball. Thomas Frank spoke about his attackers, particularly one who "dominated" his domain.
‘He can do that and the 10’
Xavi Simons came onto the field as a ten and his display did exactly what the manager expected.
“I’m pleased with that. Xavi came in and did exactly what we thought he could do in in that 10 position and I think he had a good preseason and he played two games in Germany and all that.”
The finishing touches were elusive for the Dutchman, but his creative instinct shone through.
“He's still coming into a team and all that and I think on any other day he scores a goal. he got a great finish on the first one, then great save from Bart Verbruggen, the other one he mishits. I think he could have got an assist to Richarlison where Lucas Bergvall takes the ball and he doesn’t see him.”
The £51 million man moved from RB Leipzig as a ten in their standard 4-2-2-2 system and he looked a cut above from his work against Villarreal and West Ham as someone drifting in off the left wing.
Some of that has to do with the finetuning of the offensive elements of the system and time will tell where the presence of returning attackers shift his responsibilities. In any case, he is a great asset.
“I think he can easily play the left winger that can go more Sometimes the playmakers drift to the side because there's no space in the middle. He can do that but 10 obviously he can play that as well.”
‘He looked lively’
Across 90 minutes, the best attacker in the bunch was Mohamed Kudus. The £55 million man has been a revelation after his transfer from West Ham and the manager explained why he has excelled.
“His work ethic has been really good: how hard he worked in the counter, high pressure defensive side of it. But also his hold up play when he goes into him: it sticks. They can't get it off him.
“So he just keeps it. He doesn't lose 50/50 balls. 50/50 ball. The third thing his 1 v 1 ability is crazy. He's so strong. He's so explosive. He dominated that right hand side.”
There was a first Premier League start of the season for Wilson Odobert. The French forward featured from the left flank ahead of Destiny Udogie and his sharp movement caught Frank's eye.
“I must admit I thought he looked lively. It looked like um they were a little bit afraid of him. So he got time to turn and run forward and I think we drew some crosses, some good opportunities. He's also involved in a goal, worked hard. A good first start.”
His compatriot, Randal Kolo Muani, missed out with an injury, but he could debut in midweek.
“Hopefully. It was a dead leg. He’s been struggling with for four or five days. It was just not settling as we hoped for. So hopefully Wednesday.”